In the recent Bicentennial Men Hall of Names feature here on Batter's Box, which formed a fine All-Star team made up of big leaguers all born in the year 1976 a number of people stepped up with alternate all-year teams, and so we also met at least partial squads from, among others, 1957, 1959, 1980, 1982 and 1983. [Wednesday 7/5 Update: already added to this story are teams or partial teams for 1903, 1934, '35, 1945, '46, '47, '49, 1951, '55, '58, 1963, '64, '65, '66, 1970, '75, '77, '79 and 1981.]

Nice teams, one and all. But what's the very best year for producing big league talent? I'm going to set the bar pretty high with the year ...

... 1931.

Why 1931? Simple, really. I started with the one player I wanted to make sure was on the team, The Say Hey Kid, then at the genius of Sean Forman's BaseballReference.com, clicked on Mays' birth year, which was of course, 1931. After quickly scanning the list -- just 53 players overall, barely half the number (104) we had to choose from to build the '76 squad but including Cooperstown names like Banks, Bunning, Mantle and Mathews -- I figured this team might be okay.

Can you do better? Feel free to give it a try and post it here. But first, get a load of this squad, definitely with two scoops of power, it's time to meet ...

Notes ... That's right, every single player in the starting lineup, and a couple on the bench, not to mention several pitchers, made at least one All-Star team ... Who manages this team? Well, check those last two names on the bench again and ask yourself, with that kind of brainpower, does this team really need a manager? ...

That's right, Mathews is the DH so the five-time Gold Glove winner Boyer can man the hot corner ... And yes, Mantle returns to LF, where he spent his rookie year with the Yankees in deference to Joe DiMaggio, only this time it is in deference to the greatest CF who ever played the game, Mays ... Both Mathews and Boyer, as well as Aspromonte, also managed in the big leagues ...

Sure, the starting pitching is a little thin after the front three, but the 3-4-5-6 hitters in the lineup combined for 2,220 career homers, so giving the ball to Karl Spponer everyone once in a while isn't going to be a bad thing ... And though the bullpen doesn't have the single Eckersley-like star to anchor it anywhere, the five-deep relief corps is splendid from one to five, with any one of them capable of taking the ball in the ninth or making a spot start if Kemmerer can't go ...

So seriously, is it possible to find a year that produced a team better than the '31s?

Now, Rob, you've omitted Jim Thome, Jim Edmonds, Eddie Guardado and
Javy Lopez from the That '70 Show team roster, so all is not
lost. But the starting pitching, yeah ... Helling, Rueter, Byrd,
Lieber, Sele, Alvarez ... you're not looking at the front four of the
'54 Indians or the '72 Orioles coming out of that group.

King Ryan, 1966 is a year I've looked at since it's my birth year, and
I am pretty much in agreement -- but I think maybe Scott Brosius at 3B
in place of Hollins, Jeff Frye bumping Shumpert off the roster --
and maybe even starting at short in front of Browne, which is the weak
link on the team -- and as much as it gives me heartburn to think about
it, you have to have Jose Mesa, he of 319 saves and counting, in the
bullpen somewhere. We'll continue to leave Heathcliff Slocumb off the
roster so we only have the one fans' heart attack in uniform ... Mel
Rojas, Dave Veres and Bob Wells were among the other really fine
relievers born in '66. You also have Woody Williams, Pete Harnisch and
Dave Burba to choose from for the rotation, if Wakefield can be bumped
back to the bullpen.

*Wilson Betemit is a 1981 on Baseball Reference but a 1980 on espn.com. If he "aged" a year recently, then Teahen will have to move in at 3B (unless Phillips or Castillo can play the position) and Wily Taveras or Victor Diaz will join the roster

Nice club, with a great rotation. There's a real Dodger presence with Sutton, Messersmith, Smith, Lopes and Monday. And no, they did not all play together. Smith arrived in '76 and Messersmith famously departed after the '75 season.

The 1947s have a very odd balance problem, with four of the modern era's best catchers competing for playing time. Tons of catchers and third basemen on this team... I found spots for catchers Bench, Boone, Fisk and Munson but also having four good third basemen (Evans, Hebner, Money and Aurelio Rodriguez) forced me to juggle the lineup a bit. Lots of bats - I had to cut John Lowenstein, Cliff Johnson, Al Bumbry, Jim Spencer. This team really does have seven thousand third basemen... guys like Bill Stein and

Wayne Garrett is really also a third baseman, but other than Money was the best second sacker of the lot. This team is really weak in the middle infield. And not only does it have four almost identical outfielders, four third basemen and four All-Star catchers, it has two sidearming relievers.

With the 47s, I'd really try to get Hebner's bat in the lineup, at least as a platoon player with Money. Money was a shortstop in his first full season, so alternatively you could try Evans at third, Money at short, Garrett at second and Hebner at first.

You could make a decent rotation for the '46 team, with Catfish Hunter, Mike Torrez, Paul Splittorff, Larry Dierker and Bill Lee (or Ken Forsch). I'd guess Rollie Fingers would be the closer.

I'd put Bobby Bonds and Reggie Jackson in the outfield, along with one of Bobby Murcer, Joe Rudi or Al Oliver.

I'm not sure what I'd do about the infield though. Bob Watson and Nate Colbert are a decent pair of first baseman (you could put Oliver there too, I guess), but Ken Boswell is the best second baseman I found, and after that I just gave up.

Jeremy, that's a great start. I guess Gene Tenace or Joe Ferguson catches, while Jerry Terrell could play one of the middle infield spots. I see Billy Grabarkewitz. a one-time All-Star could probably play across the keystone from Terrell.

Pedro Borbon Sr. and Skip Lockwood could set up Fingers while Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella (RIP) both had effective careers shortened by injury and tragedy, respectively.

It's a pretty good club! And two of my all-time favorite players, Joe Lis and Ken Henderson, could battle for bench spots.

Just giving a cursory glance to the '34 team (Hank Aaron), and it's a good thing you could have Aparicio, Clemente, Norm Cash, Bob Allison and Kaline (and even Roger Maris) in addition to the Hammer for offense...because I'd have a devil of a time trying to string together a pitching staff. Camilo Pascual (174-170, 3.63 ERA) and Earl Wilson (121-109, 3.69) are all right, but Turk Farrell (106-111, 3.45) is the only other pitcher from this year to win 100 games, and he also has the most saves of any pitcher from this year, with 83.

The offence is very good, with power from 8 spots in the lineup, and the starting pitching is excellent, while the bullpen is merely OK. In the minors, waiting for a call, would be Mike Hargrove, Oscar Gamble, and Richie Zisk.